Ultramarines: Asclear's Revenge
by Possum Man01
Summary: A Space Hulk, drifting through Imperial space is intercepted by the Ultramarines 2nd Company. A tale of suspense, fear and mistrust, what secrets does the Asclear's Revenge hold?
1. Chapter 1

**Ultramarines: Asclear's Revenge**

"Brother Daceus, what do your readings show?"

Daceus checked his auspex, its screen casting an aura of green light in the dark corridor, before replying,

"Nothing Brother-Sergeant, no life forms of any kind."

Veteran Sergeant Valarius paused for a moment then nodded,

"Kronor, Marius, take point, Nicero, Belar act as rear guard, let's get this over with."

Brother Marius moved to the fore, the glow of his flamer illuminating the corridor before him, as the squad advanced further into the depths of the space hulk.

The hulk had been detected two weeks ago by a cosmological monitoring station and had drifted deep into the system by the time the Ultramarines Second Company arrived to investigate. Though several attempts had already been made to board the hulk none were successful as the boarding parties either disappeared or the compartments they were in were suddenly and unexpectedly vented into space. Mounting losses and the spread of bad rumours about the hulk had forced the investigating fleets' captain to request the aid of the Ultramarines, he was glad they had not refused.

The strike cruiser, _Galatans' Pride,_ hung level with the hulk as tiny tug ships strained against its' forward momentum, the space marine admiral had ordered the hulk to be stopped so as to not spread fear through more of the systems inhabited planets and to allow the Ultramarines to act without the interference of planetary governors or the many tech-adepts the planets would likely have. The tugs eventually overcame the momentum of the hulk and it drifted to a gentle stop with the _Galatans' Pride_ manoeuvring along side in preparation to launch additional squads via boarding torpedoes and Thunderhawks.

Lord Admiral Julius Malenor stood proudly on his command deck, his hands clasped firmly behind his back, as he surveyed the image of the hulk on the view screen before him. At his side stood Captain Altarion of the Ultramarines Second Company, battle honours shining brightly on his chest plate as he too surveyed the image on the screen.

"The squads are reporting in now, my lords." announced the vox-officer.

"Good," replied Malenor, turning to Altarion, "we can only hope this hulk does not signal another Tyranid invasion."

Altarion nodded in affirmation as the vox-officer turned to them.

"All squads report successful boarding."

"Excellent, get me Sergeant Valarius, I must speak with him." requested Captain Altarion, moving to stand behind the vox-officer.

"Halt." Valarius said as his vox-bead crackled in his ear, the squad spreading out and covering every avenue of approach to their position with practiced speed and efficiency.

"Valarius, its Altarion."

"Brother-Captain, what are your orders?" replied Valarius hurriedly.

"You must find the command deck of the vessel and discover what happened to it, where it came from and how it got here."

"Acknowledged Brother-Captain, we have just reached the entrance to an arboretum and are about to pass through it, Daceus believes that the corridors beyond may lead to the command deck."

"Good work Brother-Sergeant, proceed with your mission. Altarion out."

The vox clicked off,

"Marius, Palamar take point, Kronor, Veritan cover left, Ackleor, Ileus cover right, Belar, Nicero rear guard, Daceus, with me." Valarius ordered as the squad moved into the arboretum, bolters sweeping the area around them. The arboretum was huge, its domed ceiling stretching far above the marines walking across its floor. Many of the plants that had been grown here were long dead, their shrivelled husks littering the floor, crunching and crackling under the marines boots.

"Brother-Sergeant!"

"What is it Daceus?"

Daceus paused for a moment before replying, a hint of reproach in his voice,

"I'm not sure Brother-Sergeant, I thought I had a contact," he paused to push some buttons on the auspex, "but then it was gone."

"How sure can you be?" asked Valarius as he moved to join his brother-marine.

Daceus shook his head,

"I cannot Brother-Sergeant, not unless I get another reading."

Valarius considered this before replying,

"Very well, we shall continue on, report if you detect anything Daceus, be vigilant brothers, this doesn't feel right."

After two hours of moving through the dark corridors of the space hulk veteran sergeant Valarius and his squad reached a door, its control panel smashed and apparently un-useable.

"Daceus, what do you make of it?" asked Valarius, gesturing to the door. Daceus swept his auspex over it before replying,

"It appears to have been sealed Brother-Sergeant, these weld marks indicate that it was done quickly and without much care, perhaps to keep something in."

"Or out." commented Marius, his flamer lighting the corridor behind the squad. Daceus ignored his brothers' comment and continued,

"Judging from the deck markings this appears to be the entrance to the command deck."

"Excellent, see what you can do about the control panel, Palamar, Marius, attempt to break these welds." ordered Valarius as he opened a vox-channel to the _Galatans' Pride_.

"This is Veteran Sergeant Valarius, get me Captain Altarion." there was a minutes pause before the reply came,

"Report, Brother-Sergeant."

"Brother-Captain, we have found no evidence of any abnormal occurrences aboard this hulk so far, but we have just reached a sealed door and are attempting to open it, Daceus believes that the command deck lies beyond."

"Good work Brother-Sergeant, you do our Chapter credit. Be vigilant and report if you find anything, Altarion out."

Another hour passed before Daceus turned from his work and said,

"Brother-Sergeant, I believe I have rewired the control panel, it should allow us to open the door."

"If these Emperor-damned welds would break." grunted Marius as he forced his combat knife into the gap between two welds. Valarius patted Marius' shoulder guard,

"You are doing well brother, do not give up."

Thirty minutes passed before Marius and Palamar had broken the last of the welds. Marius removed his helmet, sweat streaking his face and dripping from the rim of his bionic eye,

"Brother-Sergeant!" he called as Daceus swept his auspex over the door once again.

"Well done brothers," exclaimed Valarius "but the mission is not over yet, prepare for hostile contact."

Marius replaced his helmet and unslung his flamer while Daceus prepared to open the door; Valarius drew his power sword, its emerald green blade flashing into existence as he activated it.

"Courage and Honour brothers, let us hope this is the fight we've been waiting for." he smiled as the door lock cycled.

The door ground aside on runners unused for centuries making a piercing noise that Valarius knew would have alerted whoever, or whatever was in the room to their presence as soon as it began. The Ultramarines stormed in scanning every corner of the room for possible threats and spreading out to cover parts that their other comrades could not see. There was nothing. Just consoles covered with dust, no evidence at all that anything was or had been in the room for centuries. The fresh boot prints of the Ultramarines stood out starkly against the backdrop of greyish-brown dust which coated everything. Valarius stood, momentarily caught off guard by the lack of an enemy or any evidence there ever was one, no bodies, bones or old equipment, just dust. His feeling that something was wrong increased to almost certainty. Composing himself Valarius quickly gave out orders,

"Daceus, see what you can get out of the main cogitator, Ileus aid him, brothers, secure the area."

"The last squad has returned my lords," said the vox-officer, turning to face Altarion and Malenor, "only Veteran Sergeant Valarius and his squad remain aboard the hulk."

"Very good brother, get Valarius on the vox, I am sure our brother-captain wishes him to report." ordered Malenor, nodding toward Altarion.

"Yes my lord." came the quick reply. Captain Altarion strode to the vox-station and picked up a spare headset.

"Valarius, this is Altarion, report."

The vox crackled for a moment,

"Brother-Captain," replied Valarius, "we have entered the command deck and have begun searching for information about the hulk; so far all we have is its name. _Asclear's Revenge_."

"Excellent, well done Brother-Sergeant, continue to investigate and find as much information as you can then…"

"Lord Admiral, look!" shouted the navigation officer, pointing to the viewing bay. Clouds of frozen oxygen were bursting from almost every airlock on the hulk, sheets of ice breaking from its' hull as it began shifting from anchor. Lord Admiral Malenors' eyes were wide as he watched the scene unfolding before him as fins began to protrude from the rear of the hulk.

"Valarius!" shouted Altarion into the vox, "what's happening?"

The deck of the hulk lurched violently, momentarily unbalancing the squad of Ultramarines.

"Daceus, report!" ordered Valarius as the hull began to rumble and shift.

"Guillimans' blood, the warp engines have been activated!" cried Daceus as the rumbling intensified.

"What? How?" demanded Valarius, struggling to maintain his balance.

"I do not know Brother-Sergeant, but all the controls have been locked out, the only way to shut the warp engines down is to do it directly from the engine room."

Valarius considered the options in an instant,

"Daceus, take Kronor, Veritan, Ileus and Palamar with you to the engine room, shut those Emperor-damned warp engines down before we translate, go!"

Daceus leapt from his seat at the console, unholstering his bolter as he sprinted to the door, his four brother marines following him. As Valarius watched his brothers depart his vox crackled and he could hear Captain Altarions' voice faintly,

"Brother…eant…..re…ort!"

Captain Altarion desperately tried the vox again,

"Valarius, report, what's happening?"

"Brot…Captain…thi…larius…ileve…warp engines…een activated." came the garbled reply. Altarion stood in shock for a moment then turned to Malenor,

"Lord Admiral, Valarius reports that the hulks warp engines have activated!"

"What?" there was a look of barely controlled fear on the Lord Admirals' face as he shouted, "Get us away from that hulk, alert all tugs, brace for impact!"

Even as the hulk began to slide from the viewing bay, Malenor could see they were not going to move in time, being at anchor left them at a disadvantage, with no forward momentum to help them manoeuvre they may as well have stayed where they were. As he watched, arcs of purple and blue lightning roiled over the prow of the hulk which had begun to move forward. Out in space the lightning struck out from the ship crashing against void shields and incinerating some of the tugs in silent explosions. Then the hulk was gone, in a burst of crackling energy. Lord Admiral Malenor gripped his command lectern tightly but the backwash usually associated with sudden and extremely close proximity warp translations, never came.

The command deck of the _Galatans' Pride_ was silent. The command crew stared at the viewing bay, stunned beyond words. Altarion dropped the headset onto the vox-station with a clatter, then turned to Malenor.

"Lord Admiral." he said. The Admiral was standing stock still, his mouth open in shock, gripping his command lectern tightly.

"Lord Admiral," said Altarion, louder this time, the Admiral turned, "May I speak with you privately."

Malenor nodded and strode from the command deck, Altarion close behind.

"Julius," said Altarion, when they were out of earshot of the command crew, "we must go after them."

Malenor let out a breath and ran his hand over his head before replying,

"We cannot, Lucius, not without Lord Calgars' approval."

"Then we must contact him and get his approval." snapped Altarion, harsher than he intended. "I am sorry brother."

"Do not worry old friend," said Malenor, patting Altarions' shoulder guard, "We shall find them."

"Brother-Captain. Brother-Captain do you read?" there was no answer.

"Daceus, what's going on?" questioned Veteran Sergeant Valarius into the vox.

"Brother-Sergeant!" came a hurried voice through the static of the vox-net, "I am afraid we did not make it to the engine room in time, we have translated."

Valarius cursed before replying,

"Very well brother, get to the engine room and see what you can do to get us back into real-space."

"Affirmative, Brother-Sergeant."

Valarius turned as he clicked off the vox,

"Brothers, Daceus was too late, we have crossed into the warp, secure the perimeter and report anything unusual."

Affirmations came from the remaining Ultramarines before they moved off to their assigned positions. Valarius hoped that Captain Altarion was acting swiftly to initiate a rescue mission.

The vox clicked off and Daceus waved his brothers down the corridor. They too had felt the warp translation and the momentary loss of balance before their Lyman's Ear corrected it. The five brother-marines continued along the corridor, bolters sweeping the areas behind and ahead of them. Daceus knew they had to reach the engine room soon if they were to return to real-space intact. The marines rounded a corner and Daceus called a halt. Ahead of them was a door, a door inscribed with symbols.

"Brother Kronor, report to the Brother-Sergeant, tell him we have found what could be the door to the engine room and that I am investigating." ordered Daceus as he began moving cautiously down the corridor, his bolter trained on the door ahead.

Veteran Sergeant Valarius stood on the command deck of the space hulk, a look of consternation creasing his features, he was glad for the impassive mask of his helmet in front of his face, hiding his uncertainty from his brothers. For the first time in his command he doubted he would be able to bring his brothers out alive. His helmet vox crackled slightly, the clipped tones of Brother Kronor pushing through his hesitant thoughts.

"Brother-Sergeant, Brother Daceus requested I report to you."

"What is the situation Brother?"

"We have found a door which Daceus believes leads to the engine room but it is marked with strange symbols, he is investigating it now."

Valarius paused for a minute, considering his options, no matter how limited they were, being stuck aboard a hulk there was little to do but continue to explore it for hostiles.

"Very good brother, report back if you discover anything, be watchful for the foul beasts of the warp, they may seek us out aboard this vessel."

"Confirmed Brother-Sergeant, we shall be vigilant."

There was a faint click as the vox disconnected, though on the very edge of his perception Valarius thought he heard laughter, like that of a child.

"All Ultramarines, report!" he shouted hurriedly into the vox. Nothing, no sound at all, then a sudden wash of static. Valarius tensed, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck raise up, there was a taste of electrical discharge on the air. Then the screaming started.

Brother Daceus advanced slowly on the door, his finger resting lightly on the trigger of his boltgun, his every sense alert for what might lay ahead as he approached the door. As he came closer, Daceus slung his bolter and unhooked his auspex, the glow of its screen highlighting the strange symbols carved into the surface of the door. The more Daceus examined them, the more he thought he'd seen them before. He breathed in sharply as he finally recognised them, they were pentagramic wards, though there was something about them, something he couldn't identify. His auspex chimed suddenly, its soft noise sounding loud and harsh in the bare corridor.

"Brothers!" shouted Daceus, "Contact five hundred meters and closing!"

The Ultramarines scrambled to better positions, falling back toward the inscribed door as the contact closed on them with horrific speed. Daceus' mind raced with thoughts of what the contact could be and whether he could save his brother-marines from their potential doom.

"One hundred meters!" shouted Daceus, though by the time the words had left his mouth the contact had already gained fifty meters.

"Take aim brothers, courage and honour!"

The lights in the corridor flickered slightly, dimming at the opposite end to the Ultramarines. A wave of heat washed down the corridor, so intense that the marines could feel it through the rents in their armour. In the darkness lines of flame began to appear, thin at first but growing thicker as they trailed through the dark until they formed what looked to be a figure.

"Daemon." hissed Palamar, taking a better aim as the figure strode toward them, the darkness following it and the heat growing fiercer with its approach.

"So you see Lord Calgar, we must attempt a rescue." finished Altarion, as he sat back in one of the many chairs around the table in the centre of the great hall. The _Galatans' Pride_ had returned to Macragge after a brief communication with the Master of the Ultramarines. Captain Altarion and his command retinue were seated in the hall which occupied a large portion of the Fortress of Hera, its arched ceiling towering far above the central table, where Lord Calgar, Librarian Tigurius and Chaplain Cassius sat facing Altarion and his squad. Calgar cast a glance at Tigurius who nodded in turn.

"I have been granted a vision, brothers," spoke the Librarian, his voice resonating on a sub-conscious level, making several of the marines shift slightly. "I was shown a planet drowning in green-skins. These foul Xeno were fought by two warriors of great strength and courage, one bore the heraldry of Guilliman, the other was a dark warrior, his heraldry obscured by the dirt of battle." There was a minute of silence as the assembled Ultramarines took in this information.

"What do you make of it, brother?" inquired Calgar, gesturing for Tigurius to continue.

"I believe that Brother-Sergeant Valarius and his squad are still alive but as to their location, I cannot be certain."

Lord Calgar thought for a moment, tapping his chin with his fore-fingers pressed together.

"Cassius, what do you suggest?"

The Master of Sanctity was quick to answer, requiring little time to consider the dilemma, his voice laden with authority and experience from over four centuries of combating the enemies of the Divine Emperor.

"Moral is not as high as it could be, young Calgar, the loss of Captain Ventris and Sergeant Pasanius still haunts the memories of our brothers. We should mount a rescue mission, to show our brothers that we do not abandon hope lightly."

Altarion smiled slightly, he was always impressed by Cassius' council, the ancient chaplain was one of the wisest in the Imperium and was needed now more than ever.

"Then it is decided," said Lord Calgar as he rose from his seat, his honour guard snapping to attention behind him, "Captain Altarion, you shall take your Company along the last known course of the _Asclears' Revenge_ and search for Valarius and his men. Lead with honour, Brother-Captain." Calgar turned and strode from the hall, accompanied by Cassius, Tigurius and his honour guard.


	2. Chapter 2

The screaming had continued for several moments before Valarius had torn his helmet from his head and thrown it across the command deck, sending it smashing into a console unleashing a shower of buttons, dials and sparks. The dark lenses of the helmet betraying nothing as to the source of the screaming, though it had ceased almost as soon as Valarius had removed his helmet.

"Ultramarines, report." the only response was static, cold and featureless static. Valarius stooped and picked up his helmet, brushing at the chips in the paint and begging the war-spirits forgiveness for his disrespectful treatment of it. He then knelt, made the sign of the Aquila across his chest,

"Your Emperor cannot help you here, Son of Guilliman." came a voice from across the command deck. Valarius rose, bringing his bolter to bear as he turned to face whoever had spoken. Nothing, just dust covered consoles.

"Show yourself!" barked Valarius, his helmet discarded on the floor.

"You cannot comprehend my form, Ultramarine, not even your so-called beneficent Emperor can do such a thing."

"The Emperor is infinite in his power," said Valarius firmly, sweeping the room for any sign of this blasphemer.

"Ha!" came the reply, "do you truly believe such lies, fed to you by your culture since your birth?"

"I have Faith, heretic!" spat Valarius, "and faith is the strongest armour of all."

"No!" bellowed the voice, "Hatred is the strongest armour and Chaos the strongest weapon!"

Valarius bunched his jaw at the mention of this ancient foe,

"If that is so, then my hatred of Chaos shall guard against it and my faith shall strike it down!" shouted the sergeant, loosing off a hail of bolt rounds at the voices apparent location. Consoles blew out as high-explosive shells detonated inside them, there was silence and Valarius lowered his bolter slightly. There came a low chuckle,

"Your weapon cannot hurt me, Space Marine, you are a fool to think it can."

Valarius spun, his bolter snapping up as he heard a rush of air behind him. As he turned he caught a glimpse of fire before blinding light engulfed him.

Brother Nicero spun, training his bolter back down the corridor, he thought he'd heard something but couldn't be sure. There was a crackle of static through the vox but Nicero wasn't sure if it was an attempted communication or just interference.

"Brother Belar, this is Nicero, do you read?" he paused for a moment, "Belar, acknowledge."

Nicero cursed as he rounded a corner and passed through a blast door, this hulk was eerily quiet and, despite all indications, seemed to be deserted. Nicero was half way along the corridor before he noticed that something was wrong, there was something odd about this section of the ship. He took a moment, after checking for hostiles, to examine the corridor more closely, and then it hit him, the corridor was clean. Unlike the rest of the hulk which was coated in the grey-brown dust, this section was almost free of it. Nicero knelt and ran his finger along the join between the wall and the floor, there was dust here but it was damp as though it had had water sprinkled on it. Nicero stood, wiping the dust from his fingers and bringing his bolter up. Suddenly a klaxon began blaring and the corridor was bathed in red, flashing lights. The Ultramarine glanced down the corridor, assessing the situation in an instant, Nicero began sprinting toward the nearest exit, an exit with blast doors grinding shut. Nicero had a suggestion of what was about to happen when the external-air-pressure gauge on his visor began to creep downward, accelerating as it neared zero. Reaching the blast door, he grabbed the bottom of it with both hands, straining against the hydraulics in an attempt to keep the door open but even with the immense strength of a Space Marine pushing against them, the doors continued their decent, slowly and purposefully. Nicero's external-air-pressure gauge finally reached the bottom and he engaged the magnets in his boots as he turned to see an airlock on the wall of the corridor burst open, venting what remained of the atmosphere in this section into the void of space, ice crystals tinkling off the walls as they we hungrily sucked out. It seemed that Nicero would have to find another airlock to re-enter the hulk from the outside.

"Fall back!" bellowed Daceus, punching the door release as the daemon drew a burning sword from its back. The Ultramarines piled through the door, all eager to get away from this warp-spawned beast before it got close enough to use the weapon it wielded.

"Lock that door!" ordered Daceus. Kronor and Veritan moved to the door as the remaining Ultramarines took up firing stances and began pumping shells into the oncoming daemon.

"Your fear only serves to make me stronger." said the daemon, its voice carrying easily over the roar of bolter fire.

"I fear no evil for I am fear incarnate!" retorted Daceus, putting a volley of bolt rounds into the daemons chest, though it did little to slow its advance. The door slid closed, blast shields grinding shut over it slower than Daceus would have liked but at least it was sealed. There was a roar of anger from behind it and the blast shields buckled inward but held firm. Daceus gave a quick prayer to the Emperor before turning from the door, he froze as he looked upon the scene before him.

Altarion stood opposite his most senior officers, a map of the surrounding systems laid out on the marble table in the centre of the room. After Lord Calgar had granted them permission to search for Valarius and his men the _Galatans' Pride_ had returned to the last location of the space hulk. A red line had been drawn on the map, marking the potential course of _Asclears' Revenge_, it led through more systems than Altarion would have liked, several of which had been declared restricted areas by various Ordos of the Inquisition. The course also took them perilously close to the Maelstrom, a region of space that the Captain of the Second had no intention of going near.

"Thoughts?" questioned Altarion, raising his eyes toward his command staff.

There was a moment or two of silence before Sergeant Lathian spoke,

"Did Librarian Tigurius not mention a world over-run by Orks? Perhaps we can narrow our search with this information."

Altarion smiled slightly, Lathian was the most recent addition to the Second Companies command staff, the honour would have been Valarius' but the Veteran Sergeant had refused to accept it, claiming that Lathian would be a more suitable choice due to his uncanny in-sight into all aspects of war. The sergeant had proved his mettle on many occasions and Altarion hoped that he would do so again in the coming days.

"That eliminates all the major Imperial planets along the trajectory." replied the captain, "Brother- Librarian, what information has our Navigator provided us with?"

Epistolary Zacharas straightened slightly, his eyes dashing across the map,

"Navigator Loc tells me that the warp is particularly unstable in this area," he said, pointing to an area of empty space, "though I do not know if this will help us in our mission, captain."

"Every piece of information, no matter how small is always helpful, Zacharas." offered Altarion, knowing that to use the Librarians name would help to calm his doubt. "Brother-Chaplain, what do you make of this?"

"That is where we must go brother-captain," declared Fortez, his voice laden with certainty, "Valarius and his men are there, I do not know how or why but they are there."

Champion Tharamus shook his head slightly, the movement almost too small to notice but Altarion was not blind.

"You have something to say Tharamus?"

"No Captain, it is not my place to question those of higher rank than I."

Altarion merely nodded, deciding that this was not the time or place to confront the honoured champion about his thoughts, be they good or bad.

"It is decided then, we shall travel to the star nearest to that point," said the captain, planting his finger into the void on the map, "then make our way to whatever is out there." The command staff knew they had been dismissed and began to move off to attend to their duties and ready the company for whatever was out there.

Valarius opened his eyes, blinking in an attempt to get rid of bright after-images. As his sight returned, he slowly became aware of a smell, one that he had not encountered in a several decades, it was a foul stench of sweat, dirt and blood. Though it was not a smell that was usual for a battlefield, there was something about it, an underlying sense of threat and aggression, if war had a smell then this was it. It was the smell of Orks. Valarius sat bolt upright, clutching his head as it throbbed violently at his sudden movement, looking frantically around for his weapons. His sword, he found, was still securely in its sheath but a few metres away from him. Staggering to his feet, the sergeant searched for his bolter but to no avail. The ground around him was littered with Ork corpses, yet there was no indication of how this many Orks had been killed, apparently, all at once. Most still held their crude blades tightly in their thick fists, though none appeared bloodied. Valarius picked up a battered yet workable 'slugga' and checked the mag, it was still full. To catch an Ork off guard was hard enough, but to do it without the Orks firing a shot was nigh on impossible. His instincts told him to take leave of this place as soon as possible, to stay could mean being found by Orks, or worse, those who had killed these ones with such apparent ease. Valarius looked across the horizon, a pillar of black smoke drifted skyward to the east. Focusing his vision, Valarius thought he could see buildings of some kind, though the distance obscured any identifying architecture. Orks or no that was where he would go. After gathering up some more clips for his newly acquired weapon, though it irked him to use xenotech, he began his journey east, to whatever awaited him there.

Brother Belar looked cautiously around, he was not about to be caught off guard by whatever this ship held. His detachment had been exploring the area surrounding the command deck for approximately twenty minutes before the vox had screeched loudly and Belar had ordered the marines to secure the area and await communication. He already knew they had waited too long,

"Brothers, return to the bridge." He ordered, the marines swiftly re-grouping and moving out. Belar was anxious about what they would find, if something had happened to Valarius then who would take charge? Daceus? Kronor? Belar pushed these thoughts from his mind as the detachment reached one of the entrances to the bridge.

Zaphryon bellowed in rage as he hacked his way through the Ork mob, his armour battered and scarred from in-numerable impacts. His Terminators fought with equal hatred beside him, clubbing aside the smaller Orks so their Lord would fight only the best of the horde. The Purge had landed on this planet several weeks ago, the abundance of Orks fuelling their obsession to wipe out all life and the lure of concentrated warp energy too much for them to resist. An Ork slashed wildly toward Zaphryon but even in his ancient Terminator armour he was too fast, severing the creatures' arms from its body before beheading it in a flood of gore. His Plaguebringer Axe growled in his hand, thirsting for more blood and death. The roar of chainswords and the bark of sluggas filled the air. Through the smoke of battle Zaphryon spied what must be the leader of this warband, an Ork so large that even the hulking armour it wore could barely contain it.

"Warriors, to me!" he shouted as he charged through the Orks toward their leader. He was mere metres from the beast when it noticed him, its small eyes, bright beneath its heavy brow. Zaphryon could see what was coming; the Ork puffed up its chest and let out a bone-shaking 'Waaagh!' The Chaos Lord returned the challenge with a terrifying battle-cry of his own as he leapt at the Boss, his axe held high. The two met with a clash of blades, Zaphryon parrying with ease as the Ork violently fought to disembowel him. He battered away a clumsy swipe before bringing his axe in a brutal arc. The demon weapon tore into the Orks armour and bit into the flesh beneath, drawing a great howl from the beast as the poisons secreted by the blade spread through its system. It slumped to one knee, its skin beginning to blister and rot as Zaphryon stood over it, relishing the moment. His Terminators still fought to keep the rest of the mob at bay as their master made the greatest kill.

"I am the destroyer of life, the bringer of plague. I am the bane of all mortal things for I am Death!" bellowed Zaphryon, sweeping his axe down to be-head the Ork Boss, arcs of blood, pus and bile following the head to the ground. The battle still raged around him as he stooped to grab the head. Holding it up high in his massive fist, the flesh bubbling and dropping from the skull in looping streamers, Zaphryon roared in a savage display of victory before throwing the skull to the ground, destroying it utterly. The Orks had stood in disbelief at this show of strength and with their leader dead they panicked and ran, The Purge gunning and cutting them down as they fled. Zaphryon was angry, he had expected the Orks to be a tougher foe and to be more of a challenge, he would have to find better lives to take next time.

The Ultramarines were silent, stunned by the scene before them. Daceus had seen the horrors of war for over eighty years but never had anything come close to what lay before him and his brothers.

"What…" gasped Ileus as he tried to come to terms with what he was seeing.

"I don't know brother" replied Daceus, gagging as he took a breath of the foetid air, "switch to your armours internal oxygen, who knows what foul plagues could be in this air."

The floor was wreathed in a dirty yellow mist that swirled around the boots of the Astartes while the walls were coated in all manner of slime and ooze. It dripped from flexible pipes that ran across the ceiling and ran down bulkheads in thick globules. The mist seemed to be originating from the corners of the room, as Daceus cast his gaze into their darkness he saw large sores as if the hull-plating itself was diseased. These sores wept and bubbled, each burst releasing more of the dirty mist along with trickles of pus. Daceus averted his eyes and looked toward the centre of the room. There appeared to be some kind of pit with a myriad of cables running into it.

"Search pattern. No bolters, this mist could be flammable." Ordered Daceus as he holstered his bolter and drew his combat knife. The four other Astartes spread out to search the room, Daceus moving to the edge of the pit. A wire-frame overlay appeared before Daceus' eyes and he saw that the pit was quite shallow, his thermal sensors detected something lying on the bottom but he couldn't be sure of what it was until he'd taken a closer look. Daceus checked his auspex and was concerned when it read nothing, not just a lack of detectable life-signs but actually nothing. According to the device, the room they were in didn't exist. Hooking the machine back onto his belt, Daceus cautiously moved into the pit, as he did so his boot knocked against something, something heavy. Kneeling in the mist he reached beneath it, his gauntlet closing around what felt like fabric. Daceus hauled on the fabric, the rotting features of a corpse broke through the mist as it slumped into the Ultramarine. He wretched as rotten fluids and excrement splashed onto his armour, staining it foul colours. After doing his best to wipe the putrid slime away, Daceus inspected the corpse a little closer. Though he could do little to make out the original features of the man he was certainly human, his hollow eye sockets staring at the Astartes.

"Brothers," he called.

"Ack!" wretched Ileus, "Do we know how he died?"

"Not yet, though it looks like blunt-force trauma." replied Daceus, pointing to a hole in the back of the corpses head. "Judging from these plugs he appears to have been a Navigator."

"That would explain the cables," put in Veritan, "but where are the other astropaths?"

"They could have been the ones that killed him." said Palamar.

As his brothers continued to speculate, Daceus looked closer at the corpse, the fabric of its robes was torn revealing a symbol cut into its chest. Three circles arranged into a triangle. Daceus gasped and pushed the corpse away, as he did so a baleful glow began to pulse from the symbol and the cadaver raised itself up.

The tension aboard the _Galatans' Pride_ was almost palatable to Altarion as he marched toward the sparring chambers. The situation was not good, it had been almost two months since they had departed from Macragge and they had stopped in several systems to check for signs of the hulk but to no avail. Altarion hated not seeing results and he knew that these fruitless weeks were beginning to chafe at moral. The clatter of practice blades greeted him as the doors of the sparring chambers slide aside. Tharamus and Lathian were facing each other in the combat ring, sweat pouring from the both of them as they exchanged blows. The rest of the Command Squad stood to the side, members of Second Squad interspersed amongst them.

"I'm betting on Lathian." announced Sergeant Cossos as Altarion approached.

"You are mistaken brother," replied Apothecary Sejanus, his arms folded across his chest as he watched the two warriors, "Tharamus is just toying with him."

"Bah, you have no faith Sejanus, Lathian is a strong one, he'll come through in the end." laughed Cossos, clapping the Apothecary on the back. "Who do you think will win, Captain?"

Altarion watched his sparring brothers for a moment, "Tharamus will win but only just, Lathian will give him a hard fight." As he spoke, Lathian aimed a deadly thrust at the Champions midsection. Tharamus only just swayed aside, the very edge of the blade slicing into his skin and drawing a trickle of blood. His daring thrust had put Lathian slightly off balance but this was all that Tharamus needed. The Champion kicked out at the Veteran Sergeant's wrist, the force spinning the blade from Lathian's hand and up into the air. Tharamus brought the pommel of the practice blade down onto the back of Lathian's neck but the Sergeant rolled with the blow, robbing it of most of its force. Lathian reached into the air and caught his own practice blade, lost moments before, in a reverse guard. Both Astartes spun toward each other and met with the others blade at their throats. There was a roar of appreciation from the assembled Marines as the bout ended.

"A draw!" shouted Cossos, grinning and throwing his arms into the air, "Ha-ha! Who'd have thought it Sejanus? Tharamus beaten in combat!"

"Pah!" retorted the exhausted Champion as he wiped the sweat from his face with a towel, "I wasn't beaten, brother, merely scratched."

Lathian was grinning as other Astartes crowded round to congratulate him. Altarion moved over to the bench that Tharamus was reclining on and sat next to him.

"That was good of you, brother." said the Captain, "a wise move."

"Well Captain, I'm not about to embarrass the new-comer in this situation." replied Tharamus, wiping at the scratch on his stomach.

Altarion nodded, "Perhaps next time then, old friend."

"Aye Captain, perhaps next time." Altarion watched as Tharamus strode over to Lathian, taking his arm in a warriors grip as he congratulated the Veteran Sergeant.

_Respect and Honour_, thought Altarion as he gave a nod to Lathian before leaving the sparring chambers.

"Brother-Sergeant!" called Belar over the vox, there was no reply. "Secure the bridge." He ordered, the detachment moved off to scout through the room. There was an odd taste on the air along with a slight electrical sensation, Belar wasn't sure what had happened here but he knew it was bad.

"Brother." said Kronor as he walked over to Belar, "I've found this."

Belar was numb as he took the object from Kronor, he could hardly believe what he was holding. It was Valarius' helm. The black eye-pieces seemed to draw him in as he stared down at the helm, their emptiness more threatening than any enemy he'd faced. "Brother?" questioned Kronor, placing an armoured gauntlet on Belar's shoulder. Belar tore his eyes away from the helm,

"We must link up with Daceus and our brothers." he ordered, clipping Valarius' helm to his belt, "They may have had some success with the engines."

"What about Nicero?" asked Marius, "we cannot just leave him."

"We will not, brother, we shall find him before we move to join Daceus." declared Belar as he signalled the detachment to move out.

Nicero felt as if he'd been walking for hours, the dull clunk of his boots against the hull filling his ears. The Geller Field of the hulk flickered above him, the Warp writhing and boiling beyond it as it sensed his mind, just out of reach. Nicero concentrated on the hull before him, trying not to look at the madness above him. He had never heard of anyone being on the hull of a ship while in Warp Transit, he didn't even know it was possible. His steady breathing was almost thunderous in his ears but there was something else as well, something that wasn't supposed to be there. He felt an impact against his shoulder, he spun round but there was nothing. Nicero shook his head to try and clear his thoughts; they felt so muggy and clouded. He turned again and continued walking along the hull. Something smashed into the back of Nicero's left knee, shattering it and bringing him to the deck. He grunted in pain, rolled and drew his gladius, ready to strike at whatever had attacked him. Again there was nothing there, no enemy, just the madness of the warp above the Geller Field. Another impact punched into Nicero's visor, cracking it, warning runes flashed across his vision telling him the sealed environment of his armour had been breached. There was the steady hiss of escaping oxygen, a slowly decreasing percentage bar appearing on his HUD. Nicero rolled over and saw an access door through the cracks and static on his visor and began crawling towards it. Another impact to Nicero's back winded him as he crawled, fighting through the pain as the blows intensified. He reached the door and pushed himself onto one knee, the impacts were so numerous and fast that the noise and pain was practically constant. Nicero gripped the locking wheel on the door and strained to open it, the wheel didn't budge. He roared in fury, his armour pumping strength enhancing chemicals into his blood stream as his second heart began beating. Nicero tore the door from its frame, with a squeal of ripping metal, and hurled it up over his head before leaping into the access chamber. Nicero forced the locking wheel on the inner door, the locking arms shrieking as they moved, and practically fell into the corridor beyond. He slammed the door, spun the locking wheel and collapsed to the floor. Nicero removed his helmet, and lay panting for several minutes as the adrenaline and other chemicals wore off. He looked along the corridor and thought he could hear footsteps far off. Something cracked against the back of Nicero's head and he fell into darkness.

The blistered and rotten fingers of the cadaver gripped Daceus' throat with supernatural strength as it fell against him, slamming him to the deck, the thick yellow mist whirled around him, questing at the joints of his armour. Daceus punched his gladius into the skull of the foul creature, the point bursting from the other side in a shower of rotted brain matter and skull fragments. The glow from the corpses' eyes dimmed slightly and it's choking grip weakened, it was all that Daceus needed. Gripping the upper arms of the cadaver, Daceus tore them from their sockets, bile and blood coating his gauntlets, before he tore the creatures' throat out with a free hand. It sagged to one side, the baleful glow in its eyes faded and the corpse thudded to the deck, gore oozing slowly from the terrible wounds Daceus had inflicted upon it. Ileus moved over to him and held out his hand. The other Ultramarines were grouped in a loose circle around him, watching for any sign of another enemy.

"My thanks brother." said Daceus, gripping Ileus' wrist and getting to his feet. Ileus nodded and patted Daceus on the shoulder.

"What now brother?" questioned Kronor with a quick glance at the door they'd entered through.

"We continue with our mission, there is nothing here that can help us." Daceus replied, nudging the Navigators' corpse with his boot. "The taint of Chaos infests this place, brothers, we must cleanse it."

His fellow Ultramarines all gave their assent, Daceus moved to the large blast door at one end of the room. The doors surface was coated in blisters and weeping sores, the very sight of it disgusted him. Daceus wiped pus and slime from the keypad next to it and punched in an override code. Nothing happened. He tried the code again, still nothing.

"Palamar, I need your Krak grenades."

"We do not know what's behind this door Daceus, breeching it may not be a good idea, what if another daemon stands beyond it?" suggested Veritan. Daceus paused, his brother was right, there was no sense in breeching the door if there was another way around, it would take them longer but it would be wiser.

"You are right Veritan," admitted Daceus, "we shall find another way."

The Ultramarines moved toward the third door in the room, an opposing one to the door they had entered through. Daceus punched in the override code, levelling his bolter as the door slid open. The passage beyond was dark, oppressive and cold, icicles hung from the ceiling and frost coated the walls. The Ultramarines flicked on their armour lamps, spears of light piercing into the blackness. They advanced, bolters raised, armoured boots crunching the snow on the floor.


End file.
